It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Coventry City might be playing Chris Coleman’s Sunderland next season.

The former Sky Blues boss looks favourite to take the Black Cats - currently propping up the Championship - down to League One in the next couple of make or break months.

Cookie and his men are currently battling it out with the likes of Burton and Birmingham to avoid the drop – the thought of re-newing a proper local Midlands derby with Blues a mouth watering prospect.

That’s assuming Mark Robins ’s men fulfil their own ambitions, of course, and gain promotion back to the third tier at the first attempt, able to renew hostilities with the likes of Walsall, and travel to outposts including Southend, Gillingham and Plymouth.

At the other end of the spectrum, if the Sky Blues fail to get back up they could be heading to Macclesfield for the first time ever, having never played them in the league.

Chris Coleman in his Coventry City days

City have only ever played the Silkmen once in a competitive game, thumping them 7-0 in the FA Cup back in 1999, but John Askey’s men are currently top of the National League, five points clear of second placed Sutton United who look set to battle it out, as it stands, with Boreham Wood, Tranmere and Aldershot for a route up to League Two via the play-offs.

Meanwhile, coming down from League One could be the likes of northern neighbours Rochdale and Bury.

These are the unknown quantities at this stage of the season, with just three months to go before all final positions are confirmed, after which fans can eagerly (or not depending on how successful the final run-in) await next season’s fixtures.

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The EFL have confirmed that the 2018/19 fixtures will be released on Thursday, June 21 from 9am.

Here are the key dates for next season:

The opening day fixtures for the new campaign will get underway on Saturday, August 4, 2018.

The season kicks off on the same weekend as this campaign again. City were handed a welcome home game and got the season off to a flier with a 3-0 victory over promotion rivals Notts County.

Jodi Jones celebrates his opening day hat-trick against Notts County

The First Round of the Carabao Cup will be played the week commencing August 13, 2018.

The competition starts a week later this year, and Coventry will be hoping to go one better than their opening round exit at the hands of Tony Mowbray ’s Blackburn Rovers.

The Checkatrade Trophy gets underway during the week commencing September 3, 2018.

The competition City won at Wembley in 2017 starts a week later than this this term in which the Sky Blues failed to progress through the group stages after games against Shrewsbury Town, Walsall and West Bromwich Albion Under-21s.

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The Emirates FA Cup First Round will be scheduled for the weekend of November 10, 2018.

The famous competition starts slightly later next season when City will be looking for another lucrative run that this term saw them start against non-league Maidenhead United and finish with a fifth round exit at Premier League Brighton, having seen off top flight Stoke along the way.

The final day of the season looks set to take place on May 4, 2019.

This is exactly the same weekend as this season’s campaign comes to a conclusion.